I’m one of the original co-founders of The Liberty Papers all the way back in 2005. Since then, I wound up doing this blogging thing professionally. Now I’m running the site now. You can find my other work at The Hayride.com and Rare. You can also find me over at the R Street Institute.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and his wife went to the shooting range yesterday. Jindal, who is expected to run for president, had an interesting choice of weapons and on that could tell a lot about himself.

Governor Jindal and his wife shot both an AR-15 and an AK-47 clone.

Now if this doesn’t tell you that Bobby Jindal is a squish, I don’t know what will. You’re either an AR guy or you’re an AK guy. If Jindal won’t take a stand on this important issue, how can we expect him to stand up to Iran or Putin?

I’m one of the original co-founders of The Liberty Papers all the way back in 2005. Since then, I wound up doing this blogging thing professionally. Now I’m running the site now. You can find my other work at The Hayride.com and Rare. You can also find me over at the R Street Institute.

Gun control advocates believe that if they pass laws to restrict the access of firearms, crime will decrease. However, as ingenious inventors and builders around show that mere laws cannot stop human creativity and the ability to make do, especially as it comes to the need to self-defense and to hunt animals for food. They have resorted to making homemade guns to meet their needs.

How easy is it to make a weapon? It’s so easy you can make a deadly weapon from components easily found at a hardware store.

(DISCLAIMER: The Liberty Papers is not responsible for any accidents or legal consequences of trying to copy these weapons or building similiar homemade guns. These videos are being presented purely for informational purposes and are property of their original uploaders.)

Okay, granted that’s just an airgun, albeit a lot more powerful one than the airguns you can buy at Wal-Mart. What about actual firearms? Well, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Here’s an example from Cambodia:

You’re probably thinking “Oh wow Kevin, muzzleloaders were the thing….back in the 1800s.” Well, just as firearms in general have come a long way since then, homemade firearms have come along as well.

Here’s an example with a .410 revolver shotgun, that’s completely homemade by an 18 year old young man:

Not only can homemade gun makers build shotguns, they can also build submachine guns as well.

Look at this example from Poland.

Finally, homemade gun makers can even make full-size machine guns. Here’s an example of a machine gun that is fed by common 12 gauge shotgun shells.

All the laws in the world will not stop criminals or anyone else from that matter, from building or acquiring the firepower they need to defend themselves or to do terrible things. Instead of forcing people to rely on such crude devices, they have the right to access the better made means of self-defense.

I’m one of the original co-founders of The Liberty Papers all the way back in 2005. Since then, I wound up doing this blogging thing professionally. Now I’m running the site now. You can find my other work at The Hayride.com and Rare. You can also find me over at the R Street Institute.

A student’s mom in Mobile, AL is a little upset these days. You see, her daughter’s school got upset because the daughter drew a picture of a gun, then reportedly pointed a crayon at another student and said, “Pew pew!” (The school has not commented on whether or not the crayon was loaded, however)

In reaction, the school reportedly had the daughter evaluated by a psychologist and had the daughter sign a contract stating that she would reach out to someone should she want to hurt herself or another. Such contracts are fairly standard for people with mental health issues involving suicidal or homicidal intentions.

First, I’d like to take a moment to mention how great it is to be posting something to The Liberty Papers. In 2009, I joined with a friend in a project he had started where we blogged about area politics. I’d blogged a little bit here and there before about whatever random things, but my libertarian streak had never really gotten a chance to fly.

Suddenly, I had a platform. To say it changed my life was…well, a significant understatement. It lead to me getting to know some pretty cool people, many of whom are here at The Liberty Papers. It gave me the opportunity to first write for a local newspaper, and then eventually buy it. While that didn’t necessarily work out, it was yet another example of me being able to write a lot of words in a fairly short amount of time. So, I did like a lot of people and decided to write a book. Bloody Eden came out in August and is available at Amazon (or your favorite book website for that matter).

Now that we’ve gotten the history out of the way, a bit about the politics. First, I’m probably best described as a classical liberal. At least, that’s what every “What kind of libertarian are you?” quiz has told me, and they’re probably right. I’m a constitutional libertarian, for the most part. If the Constitution says they can do it, it doesn’t mean they should, but if the Constitution says they can’t, then they can’t. It just doesn’t get any simpler than that.

In a comment on someone elses post, another reader wrote “The DEA is an unconstitutional and illegal agency”.

This bugs me… We frequently see these sorts of statements made about the DEA, the ATF, the federal reserve (where ok, there’s at least a rational and reasonable though flawed argument to be made… most of the people shouting stuff like that above aren’t making those arguments, but still)… Basically any federal agency that they don’t like, or which enforces laws, or uses delegated powers which they personally don’t like.

No, the mere existence of the DEA is not unconstitutional or illegal. It is perfectly constitutional in that it is an executive agency chartered to enforce the laws promulgated by the legislative branch.

The fact that the federal government has no constitutional authority to outright ban or criminalize such substances as the DEA is chartered to regulate, or to ban or criminalize their manufacture, use, or possession (and only limited power to regulate their sale. No, sorry, regulating interstate commerce and making such laws as necessary for the general welfare does not grant them such broad and deterministic powers… and Wickard v. Filburn is bad law and needs to be overturned), does not mean that all laws relating to such substances are illegal or unconstitutional. There are legitimate regulatory powers that such an agency may lawfully and constitutionally exercise.

AS CURRENTLY EXTANT AND IN THEIR CURRENT ROLES AND ACTIONS… The DEA often engages in unconstitutional behaviors, and acts to enforce unconstitutional laws. That much is certainly true. But they are not inherently unconstitutional, or illegal.

Those are actually really important distinctions. Not just semantics or distinctions without difference.

This is so, because you go about addressing the issues, and solving the problems, differently. Things which are blatantly and directly illegal or unconstitutional are best addressed in one way. Things which are peripherally so, are best addressed in a very different way.

You have to shoot at the proper target, with the proper ammunition.

Also, it’s really important to remember, that “bad and stupid” or “harmful” or “undesirable”, or “pointless”; does not necessarily mean “unconstitutional”. Nor does “constitutional” mean “good”, or “useful” or “effective”.

That’s not even a matter of judges discretion or interpretation… The constitution actually provides far less protection of rights, and limitation of powers, than people believe it, expect it, and wish it to (at least explicitly… the 9th and 10th amendments… there’s much bigger and messier issue).

Basically what that means, is that I believe, all things being equal, responsible adults should be able to do whatever the hell they want to do, so long as nobody’s getting hurt, who isn’t paying extra